Walks are hugely important for our dogs’ health and happiness, and many of our pups love being active.
As much as being active is great for dogs, however, it can also be worth slowing down on walks sometimes. In fact, you could even sit down with your pup, simply watching the world go by for a while – it’s a great bonding experience to try, and you’ll be able to relax for a little while too, away from the demands of work and home life. Bring along a few of the best dog treats, and spend some time doing nothing, just you and your pup.
Professional trainers Ella Camps-Linney and Alistair Mackenzie, the owners of Kirby Dog Training, have explained in a recent Instagram post just why doing this can be so beneficial.
“It can encourage and build the habit of being calm when out of the home,” Camps-Linney and Mackenzie explain. For any dog parent who’s had to deal with an excitable in public, that’s surely going to be welcome! Similarly, sitting down like this can help your dog learn to simply watch the world, rather than engage with it.
Dogs are often very inquisitive by nature, which is great! However, it can help them to learn that it’s fine to sometimes just watch things go by – they don’t have to question things or inspect everything.
“It can help your puppy process new stimuli in the environment at their own pace,” continue Camps-Linney and Mackenzie. It’s worth instilling good habits in your pup when they’re younger, in the hope that they’ll continue through to adulthood. It could help prevent anxiety in dogs, or simply make them more content.
Meanwhile – and this will help dog parents too – sitting down on walks helps dogs learn that walks aren’t solely for forward movement. Even many of the most well-behaved pooches will have pulled on the leash from time to time, and it’s understandable that dogs will want to move forward to find out more about the world around them. But, it’s good for them to learn that they can take things a little more slowly as well.
And, perhaps most importantly, Camps-Linney and Mackenzie say that sitting down and watching the world go by with your pup can help strengthen your bond by relaxing together.
So, next time you take your pup for a walk, why not take the time to sit down and relax for a while? It could benefit you both! For more advice, here’s how to calm down a hyper dog.
